Struggle of Darkness
by Sandstorm Inkwell
Summary: "Sweet Book of the Night, my mind is full of duress. Assist me in bringing my frights to light, with the passive power I possess. Show this colt, that which he fears. Should I bolt, should I shed tears. That which you seek, becomes your tool. Of course I speak, of the essence of my soul!"
1. The Shrine

Walking down the darkened trail, I know that it's midday but no light from the sun seeps past the trees of the Everfree. No birds chirp, only the roars of distant predators offset the rustling of the trees from the self-behaving wind. The swishing of my cloak and the clopping of my hooves on the broken stone path are the closer sounds that echo repetitively in my mind.

Coming to a thicket of brush on the path, I push through it to find myself in a clearing. The clearing is just as dark as the rest of the forest. In the middle of the clearing is a squat stone hovel, barely big enough to contain one room. A small smile graced my lips under the hood of my cloak as I walk to the door of the hovel and push it open.

Inside, lit by the flickering orange light of a torch, I see a set of stairs that lead downward into even more darkness. Making to close the door, I walk down the stairs into the long hallway. A distance away, I see a soft white glow.

Air is suddenly displaced in front of my face as an axe swings from a recess on the right of the tunnel into the recess on the left. As it swung by, a warm liquid splattered onto my face and cloak. A deep chuckle escapes my mouth.

"So somepony else found the shrine. How amusing," I say, my voice lacking of any of the amusement that I spoke of. With a the 'whoosh' of fastly displaced air, I spread my wings in the tunnel until the metal tipped ends touch the stone walls on either side. When they did, the axes stopped swinging and a tingling went through my body. White sparks danced where metal tip met wall.

I begin to walk down the hall, my wingtips dragging against the wall, the sparks continuing their dance. A soft squishing accompany my hooves as I step through the remains of the curious pony.

"Sweet Book of the Night, my mind is full of duress..."

When I feel that I'm past the axes, I move my wings down to where the tips sit slightly below my back. They never leave the walls as they do, allowing the sparks to continue their dance.

"Assist me in bringing my frights to light, with the passive power I possess..."

After passing the current death trap, I quickly tap the wall with the metal tips before bringing my wings up so the tips are almost touching each other. The white sparks are now dancing between the tips. The tingling feeling increases as my body becomes an independent circuit of power.

"Show this colt, that which he fears..."

Entering the chamber at the end, I snap my wings outward and feel as the energy is discharged from my body as white bolts of pure energy shoot out at the walls. Orbs sitting in the upper corners of the room suddenly began to glow with the white light.

"Should I bolt, should I shed tears..."

I walk up to the white light from before to see that it is a levitating book. The cover and the pages look as dark as night with a pair of green, feline eyes decorating the front.

"That which you seek, becomes your tool..."

I look past the book at the floor to ceiling mirror. I notice first that my normally rose colored eyes have become as black as night, making me look like my eyes are closed under the shadow of my hood. The black cloak, which covers my slightly lighter coat is bunched up on my back by my raised wings. The tips of the fathers were a crimson color.

"Of course I speak, of the essence of my soul!"

The quick flipping of pages drew my attention back to the book. The pages were moving so fast they caused a blur. Finally, the book settled on two pages, both as black as the rest. Written in the white sparks that had recently danced from my wingtips; four words encompassed both pages.

**HAVE FUN LITTLE PONY**


	2. First of Many

Light spills in from underneath the lone door. Outside the door, sounds of happiness and mirth echo. Ponies of all different colors converse, laugh, and enjoy their time together. Drinks are passed out and the empty bowl of salt licks is replaced, much to the enjoyment of the ponies.

All of this is seen through the door's window. A window of bars and glass; made to hold, not to decorate. Hold what though? This question was asked by many during the beginning of the party. The house's owner danced around the question, hoping that it would be forgotten. As the drinks were drank and the salt licks were licked, the question did disperse from the minds of the ponies.

All the ponies... except one.

"Peach? What are you doing?" asks a voice from the lit side of the door.

"I want to see what is hidden here," whispers the one named Peach as she works the lock on the door.

"Why? I'm sure it's just a private study or something. Do you really want to get thrown out?" asks Peach's companion in a hushed but assertive tone.

"Come on Star, you know you want to know too. You are a unicorn after all. Naturally inquisitive and all that," Peach replies as she finishs unlocking the door. One would find themselves amazed that two salt filled ponies would be able to put together such coherent thought. The decision itself was obviously salt-influenced but the speech? Superb.

"Fine. Quick peek and then we're gone."

"There's the curious Star I know and love," Peach says as she swings open the heavy wooden door, unaware that a spell cast on the door has alerted the house owner to their intrusion.

"Hello?" asks Peach as she steps into the darkened room. Star follows, moving to the side of the room.

"Anypony here?" calls Star in a whisper.

"_Ah... two of the curious risk making their host furious."_

"Who was that?" questions Star as she begins to back to the door.

"_A good question you ask. A question that can be answered with a simple task."_

"And what is that?" Peach asks.

"P-peach. Let's get out of here," Star whispers to her friend as she quickens her backward pace.

"_You must close one eye..."_

Star, shivering now, jumps out of the room into the room of partying ponies. "Peach! Come on!" she calls to her friend, her tone barely below normal speaking voice.

"Shush Star," hisses Peach, looking back at her shivering friend, "I can barely hear it as is."

"Would you stop being stupid and get over here?" Star pleads.

Ignoring her friend, Peach faces the blackened room and closes one eye, "Now what?"

Deep, dark laughter echoed throughout the room, yet failed to leak through the door. Said door was engulfed in a black glow before being slammed shut, the lock forced back into place. This turn of events startles Peach into opening her eye and looking back at the door.

"Hey! What-"

"_...and then you will die!"_

The same black glow surrounded Peach's four legs. Though unseen by the pony, she could feel the grip of the magic. Before she could utter a word, the pony was lifted into the air with her limbs spread out.

Then... the pulling began. At first it was gentle, like the pull of a filly trying to direct their parent. Then it increased greatly.

"_Four legs, two eyes, yet no brain. I haven't seen day but I've seen this again and again."_

The laughter echoed throughout the room again as the pulling increased. Soon, Peach was screaming in pain as she felt her limbs being pulled away from her in different directions. Four sickening pops sounded in quick succession, causing Peach's screams to climb an octave; becoming inaudible to her but still audible to the being that held her.

"_Pop, pop, pop, like balloons poked by a needle. I wonder when you'll pop, or shall I squish you like a beetle?"_

Peach felt the pain coursing through her body. That was all she felt as her blood began to leak from where her limbs met her body. Slowly, the skin was ripping, separating. Peach had clenched her eyes from the pain, tears flooding her cheeks. Even her mind was screaming as the being pulled and pulled. She began to feel her consciousness slipping and tried to rush it for she wanted bliss. Pure terror flooded the hopeful portions of her psyche as the fading stopped and reversed so she was fully aware.

"_Don't leave me now, you're mind is not a place to run. I should have taken bow, before I truly began the fun."_

More laughter as the pulling increased. The ripping of the skin became amplified by some unseen magic, sounding like wet cardboard as it was forced apart. Peach's vocal cords had given out awhile ago, leaving her with her mouth open in silent agony. While she tried not to, the being fed air in and out of her lungs, making sure she lived.

Finally, with one forceful tug, the four limbs were ripped from Peach's torso. Blood gushed from the wounds, splashing onto the floor. The magic of the being touched Peach again. The first it did was cauterize the wounds to stem the bleeding. The next thing it did was fix her vocal cords, allowing her screams to echo through the room again.

With the limbs gone, Peach also found herself on the floor, laying in a puddle of her own blood. It stuck to her coat and colored her falling tears. With the pain lessened, the pony's screaming became quieter and quieter until it was just whimpering.

The sound of hooves against wood caused Peach to look up. Standing in front of her was a pegasus that was only slightly lighter than the blackness of the room surrounding it. It's wings were spread, revealing metal tips at the end and the red on the tip of the feathers. A smile that lacked happiness decorated it's face. It's rose eyes were nothing but pinpricks as they looked down on the legless pony.

"W-w-w-"

"_Why? Is that what you question? My, you sure didn't learn your lesson."_

The eyes closed and Peach could see the whole body shiver. Finally, the eyes opened again and looked to be normal, if not filled with horror and remorse.

"I'm sorry that it was you who had to fall victim. I only wish-"

The body shivered again and the eyes shrank back to pinpricks. The smile was replaced by a frown.

"_It seems he still has power in this book. I wonder if a blood shower will give him a second look."_

The smile grew again as the pinprick eyes looked down on Peach. They grew again and Peach expected the other voice. The eyes grew past normal though until the pupil dominated the entire area of the eye, making the eyes almost disappear in the blackness.

Peach felt the magical pressure return to her body. This time it encompassed her entire frame. Closing her eyes, the pony began a prayer to the regal sisters.

...It was never finished.

With a sudden surge of force, the body split apart into an uncountable number of tiny pieces of bone and gore. The black pony was decorated in the blood, that emotionless smile still sitting on it's face. Looking up, the black eyes focused on the door and it's single window.

Staring through the door with eyes small from fear was the, now dead, pony's companion. Behind her, the party continued, as if she and the door did not exist. Even the host only spared furtive glances at the shaking pony. Again, more drinks are passed out and the empty salt lick bowl was replaced with a new one, much to the joy of the party-goers.

As the drinks were drank and the salt licks were licked, no pony noticed the blue unicorn opening the door and entering the black room.

No pony... except one.

**ARE YOU READY TO BREAK?**


	3. Book of Dawn

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but a black void around me. Not even stars dotted the space, it was just... empty. Were one to be looking at the book, they would have seen the pages flip to a new set. On the right hand page, the dancing sparks would have appeared again. This time, they would have taken the shape of a pegasus stallion, his wings outspread.

A deep laughter sounded from the void that rattled my bones but not my mind. I stood stoic in that empty place.

"You can't scare a follower of the Night sweet book," I said as I continued to face forward.

"_Oh, but can't I? I see in your psyche and, by and by, your fear is mighty."_

"Quit your ryhmes book. I know not where you adopted it but even you should realize that you are a book of horror, not of literature."

"_But isn't it one and the same? A book is literature, no matter how lame. Besides, my pages? The one who wrote it was quite the poet. That is why the greeting is a ryhme that has been remembered through time."_

"What you speak is true, I can't deny a fact. Though, book, did you realize that your author wrote not one book but twice that?"

"_He did, did he? Well, I hope that book is as evil as me."_

"Do you wish to know the title of the book?"

"_Why can't I want to know? Now that you've taken my interest in tow."_

I smiled at the void. A small smile that one might have called a smirk though I felt it to be too big for a simple smirk.

"First, a riddle for you. Shouldn't be too hard for a book."

A pause before: _"I will play your game. It will only bring you shame."_

My smile grew as I looked at the void with my rose colored eyes, "What comes before day and after night and contains both sunlight and blackness?"

"_Riddles should ryhme! It is unproper; you waste my time!"_

"Answer the riddle or set me free. It is your choice book."

A pause, longer than before. My smile grew more until I was showing teeth.

"_The answer I have thought it to be, surely it cannot."_

The doubt in it's voice caused me to chuckle, enjoying this victory.

"Oh, but it is. The other book is the 'Book of Daw-'"

"_NO!" _Outside the book, one might watch as it slammed closed, the shrine walls shaking from something unseen.

With a sudden push, I found myself being flung through the void. After awhile of going vertical, I find myself falling. I flapped my wings to try to steady myself. When I did, a loud roar echoed through the void and I found my wings torn from my body in one powerful pull. Screaming from the pain, I continued to fall before my mind finally blacked out. The last thing I heard was the laughing of the book.

* * *

I awoke to a bright light shining overhead, as well as pressure on my snout and chin. After fluttering my eyes open, the light dimmed to reveal a foal looking down at me. Scars and stitches covered it's hide and it's lips were sewn so it always smiled. One purple eye looked down at me while the other eye was nothing but the empty socket.

"Hello friend," whispered the foal, who I think is a filly. As she spoke, she ran a hoof along the side of my face, "you and me will be the best of friends. I have an entire building in which to play with you."

An insane laugh escaped her throat as she reached to the side. When her hooves came back into view, I saw that they held a sewing needle and string. I tried to get away but metal restraints held me down and I soon learned that the edges were sharpened enough to cut into my skin when I struggled.

"But first," continued the filly, "the voice has ordered me to sew your mouth shut. This disappoints me, for I like to hear the screams of joy from my friends," another insane laugh, "Though, one does not anger the voice. So do stay still. When I'm done, then we can play."

As she moved the needle close to my lips, I tried to scream or move my lips away but the clamps on my snout and chin held my mouth closed. At the same time, the restraints on either side of my head cut into my skin and forced me to stay still.

"Shh... please don't move. I don't like causing pain," whispered the filly, insane laugh seeping from her throat. When the needle poked my lip, I flinched in pain, causing the restraints to dig into my skin. Forcing myself still, I felt the needle be pushed through my lower lip and into my upper one.

While I couldn't on the outside; inside my head, I screamed from the pain. With eyes clenched shut, I felt as the needle was pushed back through my upper lip and into my lower lip. Tears rolled from my eyes to go down the sides of my head to the table below me. I wished for the bliss of unconsciousness but knew that it would not come. The Book of the Night does not want someone to miss their torture, after all.

A deep laugh permeated the room where the filly performed her surgery.

"Do you hear that?" whispered the filly in awe, "The voice is pleased with my actions. Oh, yippee! Maybe I will get new toys! Won't that be exciting?"

**POOR THREAD; SHE ALWAYS WAS SO LONELY.**


	4. Playtime

What felt like a few hours had passed since the filly finished sewing my mouth shut and walked out of the room. With hurt lips and aching stubs on my back (all that was left of my wings), I laid on the table and wondered what would happen next. _To think. If I hadn't teased the book, I would have been out of here by now _I thought to myself as I sighed.

Sudden clanking startled me from my thoughts. The clanking intensified before, finally, it reached my table and silenced. With it's silence also came the disengaging of the restraints, allowing me to move again. Slowly, I climbed off the bed and to my hooves. When my hooves met floor, I got a sudden spell of dizziness that caused me to stand and wait for it to pass.

Laughter echoed from the lone doorway. The hallway was poorly lit with flickering light fixtures. For every one solid light, there were two flickering lights. Some of the lights were out altogether, plunging sections of hallway into darkness.

I walked down the hall, as there was no other way out of this hell. The building looked to be a hospital. A run-down, mildewed hospital but a hospital all the same. White tiles lined the walls and old blood stains marred the floors at certain points. Whether this was from the filly's "play" or not, I could not tell.

More laughter echoed from farther down the hall. This was followed by a weird slapping noise. The noise began to grow louder and louder. Frozen in place, I watch the darkened hallway for any sign of what it might be. The noise grew and grew until it felt like I was right next to it, yet it still somehow echoed from down the hall.

An eternity later, a red ball bounced from the darkened halls, leaving marks against the floor. The marks were red themselves. With the ball being stopped by my legs, I rolled it with a hoof to realize that the ball is actually a green color. The red... _Blood, _I thought to myself as I feel the substance.

"I want to play..." whined the filly. I checked behind me, for that is the direction in which the voice came. The light in the surgical room had been turned off. In the glare from the hall light, though, I could see one thing:

A purple eye staring at me.

A muffled yelp escaped my throat as I turned and charged down the darkened hall. Laughter echoed after me as I galloped as hard as I could. Not able to see where I was going, I crashed into a door. Luckily, it swung open and deposited me into the next room. Unluckily, the lights were off.

With the hum of electricity, all of the lights turned on to reveal a scene straight from hell itself. Nailed to three of the four walls were ponies and pieces of ponies. Entrails hung from one pony to the next like party streamers. One pony had her right side skinned. Said skin was nailed to the wall with actual tails pinned all over it. Blood and other organs covered the floor, stomachs blown up like balloons.

The lighting finally caught up to the fourth wall. When the lights came up, the insane laughter echoed again.

"Hush now, quiet now... hehehe," cackled the insane filly, her voice sounding like it came from everywhere at once. Spanning from the top of the wall to the bottom, those four words were written in what could only be blood. Also decorating the fourth wall, though, was another set of doors.

Again, I galloped and barged through the doors into a new hall. This hall was the same as the last only this one had more ponies hanging from the walls. At the end of the hall was a single door. The squeaking of the doors behind me caused me to go into full sprint for the door in front of me. I passed the nailed up ponies at high speed, not even glancing at their desecrated corpses.

I busted through the new door with enough force to almost tear it from the wall. Seeing the room, I came to an immediate halt. The room was dark with a single, flickering light in the middle of the room. The light showed a young unicorn sitting in the middle of the room.

Popping of bones filled the room as the unicorn's head began to turn. I expected it to stop at the same place that my head would have to stop but, it went on. The popping became louder as the head turned me. As it turned, I could see it's eyes. The entire eye was white. There was no iris or pupil, just an empty white that felt to be tearing into my soul.

When the head was completely turned around and now facing me, I continued to stare at it in frozen fear. The light above continued to flicker as the unicorn's horn lit with a white light. With a wet 'schliking' sound, the head _lifted _from the body, the light of the magic never fading. More and more, the head lifted, though the shadow of a head was never removed from the body.

I watched as the head rose up until there were now _two _heads on the pony. The unicorn head was completely separated, floating off to the side with it's horn still aglow. The other head was shrouded still.

"Let's play pretend!" shouted the filly as a single purple eye opened on the shrouded head. The figure then stood and began to gallop backwards to me, the filly's laughter echoing as it did.

A muffled scream escaped my lips as I backed away as fast as I could. Backing through the door that I had entered before, I slammed it shut and held it shut. The popping of bones sounded from the other side of the door before something crashed into the door. There was a couple seconds of scratching before the sound of receding hooves came from the other side of the door.

I stayed holding the door for about a minute after that, making sure she was actually gone from the door. Then, silently, I backed away from the door and looked back to the hallway. What I saw was that there was no hallway. Instead, it was a well-lit room with a lone mirror against the far wall. I walked to the mirror and looked into it. In the mirror, the door was missing from the other wall.

With a skeptical glance, I looked back to see that the door was indeed gone from the wall. Perplexed, I looked back at the mirror to see if it would reappear. As I examined the mirror, in the bottom right corner, I saw a reflection of the corner of the room to the right and behind me. In that corner sat a familiar filly with a single, purple eye.

Frightened and ready to fight, I looked back at the corner of the room. Only there was nothing there. I checked all over the room but it was only myself and the mirror that occupied the space.

Back to the mirror I looked and, instantly, I jumped backwards as I saw the filly looking back at me. My reflection was gone, replaced by the filly as she looked at me, that sewn smile on her face.

"Why do you keep on running? Don't you want to play?" she asked, almost innocently weren't it for the blood in her mane and on her hooves.

I shook my head, taking a step back from the mirror as I did.

"I don't believe you!" she replied as she mimicked my step back, "Oh! I know! Let's play hide 'nd seek! You hide, I seek! Ready? Go! One..."

She had closed her one good eye while the empty socket stayed open to stare at me. Panicked, I looked around the room before I saw that the door had reappeared behind me. I charged through it and entered a very bloody kitchen. A half dissected pony laid on one of the counters. Next to it...

_A knife!_

Looking back, I saw that the filly was still counting. After slamming the door shut, I grabbed as many heavy objects that I could and shoved them against the door in the hope that it would keep the psychotic thing out. When I deemed it secure enough, I galloped to the knife.

Sitting, I took the blade in my hooves and put the tip to my lips. With just enough force to cut through the thread, I began my cutting. Of course, that was before the banging on the door began.

"Hey! No fair! You can't block the door!" I heard from the other sound as I sped up my cutting. I was now also cutting into my lips but I didn't care as I was still getting the threads that held my lips closed. After an agonizing minute, I had cut the threads off. Instantly, I began shouting as the banging at the door got louder and louder.

"Book of Dawn; shine upon this pawn! Beat back Night and end this plight! See me as the one who didn't break and take me as the one who faced the ultimate-"

A hoof covered my mouth before I could finish the poem. I felt the soft breathing against the side of my face and couldn't help it as a shiver ran down my spine.

"Naughty, **naughty **colt," whispered the filly into my ear, her voice dripping venom. I felt the knife still in my hooves but something held me still and didn't allow me to plunge the cold metal into this demon's skull.

"I was planning a party but naughty colts don't deserve a party. No," continued the filly. When she paused, I felt her get even closer which caused me to close my eyes in reflexive fear. When she spoke, it was directly into my skull, her snout brushing against my ear as it moved, "naughty colts get **punished!**"

**YOU WILL NEVER WAKE!**


	5. Punishment

I opened my eyes to the view of a wide open plain. Grass and flowers spread as far as the eyes could see. The only disturbance to the view was a gazebo that sat in the field. After standing, I walked toward the gazebo, spreading my wings in a defensive manner. Surprised, I looked back and realized, after a couple flaps, that I did have my wings again. Not only that but I could feel no pain anywhere on my body.

_Could it have all been a dream? It felt so real, _I thought as I got closer to the gazebo. Inside the cover, I saw a lone pony sitting and looking off into the field. I entered the gazebo and let my eyes adjust to see that the pony was a beautiful Earth pony mare. Her figure was slim but not too much so with accentuated curves. Her blue mane and tail were of medium length and looked to be as soft as clouds, as did her cyan coat. My heart almost busted from my chest when I saw stunning blue eyes look over at me.

"Hey there sleepy head," she said playfully as she smiled at me. A look of confusion crossed my face before I could stop it. Hurt was quick to follow on her face. "I'm your marefriend... Serene Siren?"

"I remember you hun, just got confused as to how a pegasus like me could get a mare like you," I replied, trying to fix the situation and not lose this beautiful mare. _Smooth man. _Shut up conscious.

"Oh," she began, the playful smile returning, "Well, maybe is has something to do with your looks."

I looked down at myself to see the same, not special, black coat. I shook my head with a chuckle and a smile as I looked back up at the mare and came to a stop next to her, "Can't be that."

She chuckled back before putting a hoof to her chin, "Your personality then?"

"Can't be that either," I replied jokingly. I watched as her eyes half-closed to look at me seductively.

"Then what can it be?" she purred.

I leaned in closer to her, my eyes half-closing as well, "I don't know," I purred back. I felt my heart beat faster when she leaned closer to me, our lips almost touching.

"I think I know what it might be," she whispered. Before I could respond, her lips met mine and I felt my heart go so fast that I thought it would explode. I leaned into her silk-smooth kiss and closed my eyes, allowing myself to accept this bliss.

I felt some heartache when her lips left mine but kept my eyes closed when I felt her breath against my ear.

"It's that you're a **big **stallion."

Pain swept through my body as I felt something slice against my aroused stallionhood. My vocal cords pulsed as I tried to scream but nothing came out. Opening my eyes, I saw a blood-stained, tiled wall. I also briefly caught sight of a single purple eye before I felt another slice across my stallionhood, sending pain sweeping through my body again.

"Are you okay?" I heard a silky voice ask. I opened my eyes to see the goddess sitting in front of me with a worried look on her face. I looked down at my stallionhood to see that it was all in one piece and still very aroused. Confused, but nonetheless with a goal in sight, I put on my best seductive look before I looked back up at the mare. I felt my hear pick up pace again as I saw her looking down with a pleased smile before she looked up at me.

"I see somepony is ready," she remarked as her lips met mine again.

More pain swept through my body as yet another slice went across my stallionhood, sending whatever I had in my stomach hurtling out on the ground below. My brain was empty of thought as the pain cascaded through me, followed by more as another slice went across.

Again, I was in the gazebo. No pain, no puke, just me and the very attractive mare that had her lips locked with mine. _What in Luna's name is going on? Which is real, they both feel the same._ I wondered to myself as my lips parted from the mare's.

Slice. My own muffled screaming is all I hear as my mind went black. After what felt like minutes, I was back in the gazebo.

"You..." I hesitated as the mare gave me her most innocent look, "You're not real. This is all not real. I am not in heaven. No, I am in hell."

The mare looked saddened and confused, "What do you mean? This was supposed to be our day!"

"No, you are not real. Like your name, you are simply a being a beauty luring me to my death," I say.

Slice. _AAAAAAAAAHHHH!_

I opened my eyes to see the blood-stained tile walls. I was again restrained but, this time, it was in an 'X'. I could feel the pain of new threads in my lips as I looked down. Near my groin was the demonic filly and, in her hooves, a dull and bloody knife.

"It seems you have ended your punishment early," she said in a disgruntled voice as she looked at my groin in disappointment. She then tossed the knife haphazardly between my hindlegs, barely missing my vital parts, before jumping back in joy, "That just means that we get to play again!"

_Luna help me..._

**CAN'T YOU SEE?**


End file.
